CN113728244A

CN113728244A - Radar detection using radio communication terminal

Info

Publication number: CN113728244A
Application number: CN202080031486.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: E·本特松; R·荣; F·卢塞克; O·赞德; 应志农
Original assignee: Sony Group Corp
Current assignee: Sony Group Corp
Priority date: 2019-04-26
Filing date: 2020-03-11
Publication date: 2021-11-30
Also published as: WO2020216522A1; US20220163651A1; EP3959538A1; US11977143B2

Abstract

There is provided a radio communication terminal (UE2) configured to act as a radar receiver, the radio communication terminal comprising: -a radio transceiver (323), -logic (320) configured to transmit data over a radio channel (101) via the radio transceiver, wherein the logic is further configured to obtain (233) via the radio transceiver a radar probe request (230) for detecting a radio signal echo; determining (235) a reception direction (Dir2) based on the request; controlling the radio transceiver to detect (242) a reception characteristic of a radio signal echo in said direction; and transmitting (261), via the radio transceiver, data (260) associated with the detected reception characteristic to a radio communication device (BS1, UE 1).

Description

Radar detection using radio communication terminal

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the concept of using a terminal of a radio communication system as an entity in radar detection. In particular, a solution is provided for configuring different terminals to act as radar pulse transmitters and radar pulse receivers under the control of a radio device indicating a direction or position of detection.

Background

To achieve higher data bandwidths, it is desirable to move the spectrum used for communication over the radio channel to higher frequencies, for example, to frequencies in excess of 6GHz or 10 GHz. At such frequencies, radar detection is feasible. This is due to the well-defined spatial transmission characteristics of electromagnetic waves in the respective frequency spectrum.

In radar detection using a single radar device, a radar receiver measures characteristics of a radio frequency echo from a signal or pulse transmitted by a radar transmitter. Based on the received signal characteristics and the characteristics of the transmitted signal, calculations can be made to calculate the relative distance to the reflective object and the velocity of the reflective object. If the radar device knows its position, velocity and orientation, the absolute position and velocity of the reflecting object can also be calculated.

The performance can be significantly improved if the echoes are analyzed by multiple receivers. It is also possible to physically separate the radar transmitter and the radar receiver. The radar receiver will then act as a so-called passive radar in the sense that it does not itself involve the transmission of radar pulses.

A general feature associated with the use of radio communication network entities for passive radar sensing is Reiner S.

The title of the same is presented in a study entitled "Cooperative polymeric Location: A planning 5G Service to Support Road Safety" (https:// axiv.org/pdf/1802.04041. pdf).

However, the strategy of using radio communication devices as entities in radar sensing poses challenges to system design, particularly with respect to identifying appropriate transmit and receive beams for the involved UEs, and achieving synchronization between the devices. A related problem is how to configure a system and its apparatus suitable for telecommunications to cooperate conveniently and efficiently for radar sensing.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, a technique in which data communication and radar detection coexist is required. In particular, there is a need for techniques to manage the identification and use of terminals in a radio communication system in a coordinated manner for radar sounding.

This need is met by the features of the independent claims. The features of the dependent claims define embodiments. According to an example, there is provided a radio communication terminal configured to act as a radar receiver. The terminal includes: a radio transceiver, and logic configured to transmit data over a radio channel via the radio transceiver. The logic is also configured to,

obtaining, via a radio transceiver, a radar probe request for detecting a radio signal echo;

determining a receiving direction based on the request;

controlling the radio transceiver to detect a reception characteristic of a radio signal echo in the direction; and

transmitting, via the radio transceiver, data associated with the detected reception characteristic to a radio communication device.

By means of this configuration, the radio communication terminals can be instructed to cooperate as receivers in passive radar detection. Furthermore, by being able to determine a reception direction based on the request, the terminal may be suitably configured to sense echoes along this direction by arranging the antenna arrangement for selected spatial sensing in the identified reception direction.

According to another example, a radio communication device is provided that controls passive radar detection. A radio communication apparatus that may include a radio base station in a radio communication network includes: a radio transceiver, and logic configured to transmit data via the radio transceiver. The logic is configured to configure the logic such that,

transmitting, via a radio transceiver, a radar probe request, wherein the radar probe request includes an identification of a location at which radar probing is conducted;

determining a transmission characteristic of a radar pulse transmitted by the first radio communication terminal serving as a radar transmitter;

receiving, via the radio transceiver, data associated with reception characteristics detected in at least one second radio communication terminal acting as a radar receiver for receiving radar pulses;

obtaining position information associated with a radar transmitter and a radar receiver;

determining a spatial characteristic of the object at the location based on the transmission characteristic, the reception characteristic, and the obtained location information.

By means of this configuration, the radio communication device can control the terminal to act as a transmitter and a receiver, respectively, in passive radar detection. Furthermore, by informing the terminal of the location where the probing is to be made, the terminal is provided with information for being suitably configured to send radar pulses and/or to sense echoes in the most suitable direction.

The examples described above and those described below may be combined with each other and with other examples.

Drawings

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a scenario for passive radar detection using a terminal of a radio communication network, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a signaling diagram between different entities of a system according to various embodiments, including those of fig. 1.

Fig. 3a schematically illustrates a radio communication terminal configured to act as a radar transmitter according to various embodiments.

Fig. 3b schematically illustrates a radio communication terminal configured to act as a radar receiver according to various embodiments.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates reception characteristics of radar sounding pulses received by an antenna array of a radio transceiver, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a radio communication device configured to act as a control entity for passive radar detection, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates the coexistence of data communication and radar detection according to various embodiments.

Fig. 7 schematically illustrates a resource mapping of a radio channel used for data communication, the resource mapping including a first resource element (resource element) used for data communication and a second resource element used for radar detection, in accordance with various embodiments.

Detailed Description

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, details relating to various embodiments are set forth. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. In some instances, detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail. The functions of the various components including functional modules, including but not limited to those labeled or described as "computer", "processor", or "controller", may be provided through the use of hardware, such as circuit hardware, and/or hardware capable of executing software in the form of coded instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the functions and illustrated functional modules are to be understood as being implemented via hardware and/or via a computer, and thus via a machine. In terms of hardware implementations, functional blocks may include or encompass, but are not limited to, Digital Signal Processor (DSP) hardware, reduced instruction set processors, hardware (e.g., digital or analog) circuits including, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits [ ASICs ], and state machines capable of performing such functions, as appropriate. In terms of computer implementation, a computer is generally understood to include one or more processors or one or more controllers, and the terms computer and processor and controller may be used interchangeably herein. When provided by a computer or processor or controller, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated computer or processor or controller, by a single shared computer or processor or controller, or by a plurality of individual computers or processors or controllers, some of which may be shared or distributed. Moreover, use of the term "processor" or "controller" should also be construed to refer to other hardware capable of performing such functions and executing software, such as the example hardware set forth above.

The figures are to be regarded as schematic representations and elements illustrated in the figures are not necessarily shown to scale. Rather, the various elements are represented such that their function and general purpose are apparent to those skilled in the art. Any connection or coupling between functional blocks, devices, components or other physical or functional units shown in the figures or described herein may also be achieved through an indirect connection or coupling. The coupling between the components may also be established by a wireless connection. Functional blocks may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination of these.

In the following, a coexistence technique of data communication and radar detection on a radio channel is described using nodes of a radio communication network. Radar detection can be used in a variety of situations, including, for example: positioning assistance, traffic detection, unmanned aerial vehicle landing assistance, obstacle detection, safety detection, photographic characteristics, and the like.

To facilitate coexistence, one or more resource maps may be employed to coordinate and allocate resource usage between data communications and radar sounding. The one or more resource mappings may define resource elements with respect to one or more of: a time scale, a space scale; and a code scale. These resource elements are also sometimes referred to as resource blocks. Thus, a resource element may have a well-defined duration in the time domain and/or a well-defined bandwidth in the frequency domain. Alternatively or additionally, the resource elements may be defined with respect to a certain coding and/or modulation scheme. A given resource mapping may be defined with respect to a certain spatial application area or cell.

In some examples, resource elements of the resource map are used for data communication and radar sounding, respectively, that are orthogonal to each other. Here, the orthogonality of the resource elements may correspond to the resource elements being different from each other with respect to one or more of: frequency scale, time scale, spatial scale; and a code scale. Sometimes, these cases are referred to as Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), space division duplex; and Code Division Duplexing (CDD). By using orthogonal resource elements for data communication on the one hand and radar sounding on the other hand, interference between data communication and radar sounding may be mitigated. Also, the same hardware (e.g., handheld device or radio base station) may be employed to perform both data communication and radar detection. By using radar detection in the context of a device configured for data communication, the functionality of the device may be greatly enhanced. In the following, with reference to fig. 6 and 7, an example scenario of coexistence between radar detection and data communication, including signaling between a radio communication terminal (also referred to herein simply as terminal) and a radio base station, and application of radio resources, will be further described.

Fig. 1 illustrates a high-level perspective view of radar detection in a radio communications network 100, according to various embodiments outlined herein. The radio communications network 100 may comprise a core network 110 and one or more base stations, of which one base station BS1 is illustrated. The base station BS1 is configured for

wireless communication

751, 752 with various terminals, a first terminal UE1 and a second terminal UE2 being shown. Such a terminal may be selected from the group comprising: a handheld device; a mobile device; a robot device; a smart phone; a laptop computer; an unmanned aerial vehicle; a tablet computer; wearable devices, and the like.

The wireless communication may include data communication defined with respect to a Radio Access Technology (RAT). While various examples are provided with respect to cellular networks with respect to fig. 1 and the following figures, in other examples, corresponding techniques may be readily applied to point-to-point networks. Examples of cellular networks include third generation partnership project (3GPP) defined networks such as 3G, 4G, and the upcoming 5G. In terms of technology, the network may use, for example, WCDMA, LTE or New Radio (New Radio) access protocols. Examples of point-to-point networks include Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) defined networks, such as the 802.11x Wi-Fi protocol or the bluetooth protocol. As can be seen, various RATs may be employed according to various examples.

The base station BS1 forms part of the radio 120, which radio 120 may also include a computing device or server 130 for performing calculations and storing data based on signals and data received and transmitted using the base station BS 1. In various examples, the computing device 130 may be an edge computing server that may be configured to operate as a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) host.

The scenario of fig. 1 is based on the concept that knowledge of physical characteristics about an object, also referred TO herein as a Target Object (TO), is of interest. It should be understood that the basic target does not necessarily have TO be directed TO the target object TO, but TO obtain information of the presence or activity in a specific location area (LOC) where the object can currently be located. The focus on obtaining knowledge of the physical characteristics of the target object TO may originate from the terminal (e.g., UE1), or from other entities of the system (e.g., presence detector, operator, default schedule, etc.

In order TO obtain knowledge about the physical characteristics of the target object TO, passive radar detection is performed, wherein the terminal UE1 is configured TO act as a radar transmitter TO transmit radio signals as radar probe pulses, and wherein the UE2 is configured TO act as a radar receiver TO detect echoes of such radio signals. The received echoes may then be processed TO obtain physical characteristics about the target object TO, such as position, shape, velocity, etc. In fig. 1, only two terminals are shown. However, based on radio signals transmitted from one UE received by a plurality of UEs, improved accuracy can be obtained.

In the proposed solution, one terminal UE1 is identified as the sending terminal. Transmitting in this context means that the UE1 is configured to transmit a predefined signal shape that can be used for radar operation, e.g., a pilot or beam sweep of a pilot. The UE1 may be identified by the base station BS1 of the radio 120 in the network 100 as a suitable device to be the transmitting terminal. UE1 may be identified as appropriate by virtue of selection of terminal UE1 based on information learned by the base station (e.g., camped on a given network cell of base station BS1 or active when communicating with base station BS1 using a particular beam direction). Thus, the UE1 may be

-any UE in the system having a capability to perform a handover,

-UE limited to initiating/requesting measurement procedures, or

A plurality of UEs performing transmission "one by one".

For the transmission of predefined radio signals TO be used as radar pulses, the UE1 may have information, i.e. a geometric definition, for the direction Dir1 of the transmission and/or the approximate position LOC of the item TO be measured. The geometry definition may originate from the terminating UE1 or originate from another entity and be conveyed to the terminating UE1 by the base station BS 1.

At least a second terminal UE2, and possibly a plurality of UEs (potentially also including UE1), is then requested to listen to the signals transmitted by UE1 to detect echoes of the transmitted radio signals. This may be obtained by performing a beam sweep in a direction Dir2 defined by the geometric definition. The feedback characteristics of the received signal echoes are then provided to the system, either directly to the radio 120 or to the sender terminal UE 1. The signal characteristics may include time of arrival, direction of arrival, power level, etc. of the signal. All information about the reception characteristics is then processed by the system (such as in the radio 120 or node 140 in the core network) or in the requesting terminal UE 1.

Referring now to fig. 6, an example coexistence scenario between radar sounding 609 and data communication 608 (such as packetized data communication) is depicted. Here, for example, the base station BS 600 of the cellular network 100 enables data communication 608 with the terminal UE 602 attached to the cellular network 100 via a radio channel 601. The base station 600 may for example correspond to the base station BS1 of fig. 1. Terminal 602 may correspond to any of terminal UE1 or UE2 of fig. 1, where communications between base station 600 and terminal 602 may correspond to

communications

751 or 752, respectively.

Transmitting data may include sending data and/or receiving data. In the example of fig. 6, the data communication 608 is illustrated as being bi-directional, i.e., including Uplink (UL) communication and Downlink (DL) communication. The data communication 608 may be defined with respect to a RAT that includes a transport protocol stack in a layer structure. For example, the transport protocol stack may include a physical layer (layer 1), a data link layer (layer 2), and the like. Here, a rule set may be defined for various layers whose rules facilitate data communication. For example, layer 1 may define transport blocks for data communications 608 and pilot signals. Data communication 608 is supported by both BS 600 and terminal 602. The data communication 608 employs a shared channel 605 implemented over a radio channel 601. The shared channels 606 include UL shared channels and DL shared channels. Data communication 608 may be used in order to perform uplink and/or downlink communication of application layer user data between BS 600 and terminal 602. Also, as illustrated in fig. 6, the control channel 606 is implemented on a radio channel 601. Likewise, the control channels 606 are bi-directional and include UL control channels and DL control channels. A control channel 606 may be employed to enable communication of control messages. For example, the control message may allow the transmission characteristics of the radio channel 601 to be established.

The execution of the shared channel 605 and the execution of the control channel 606 are monitored based on the pilot signal. A pilot signal, sometimes also referred to as a reference signal or sounding signal (sounding signal), may be used in order to determine the transmission characteristics of the radio channel 601. In detail, the pilot signal may be employed in order to perform at least one of channel sensing and link adaptation. Channel sensing may enable determination of transmission characteristics of the radio channel 601, such as likelihood of data loss, bit error rate, multipath error, and the like. Link adaptation may include setting transmission characteristics of the radio channel 601, such as modulation scheme, bit loading, coding scheme, etc. The pilot signal may be cell-specific.

Radar detection 609 may be used in order to determine the location and/or velocity of passive objects in the vicinity of terminal 602. The position of the passive object TO can be determined in terms of the distance from the radar transmitter. Alternatively or additionally, the location may be determined more accurately, for example, relative to a reference frame. The radial velocity and/or the tangential velocity may be determined. To this end, one or more reception characteristics of the echo of the radar detection pulse may be used as part of the radar detection. Echoes are typically not transmitted along straight lines (hereinafter, for simplicity, referred to as non-line of sight (LOS)), but are affected by reflections at the surface of the object. The receive characteristics may be processed locally at the radar receiver; and/or may be provided to another entity, such as a radar transmitter, for processing to generate a position and/or velocity.

A radar transmitter implemented according to the configuration of the radio communication terminal UE1 is configured to transmit radar sounding pulses. Likewise, the radar receiver implemented according to the configuration of the radio communication terminal UE2 is configured to receive the echo of the radar probe pulse reflected from the passive object. In an example, a radar probe pulse is thus sent by the end UE1 and a corresponding echo is received by the end UE2, possibly by another end terminal, and possibly by the end UE 1.

FIG. 7 illustrates aspects related to resource mapping 755. As shown in fig. 7, resource map 755 is defined in the frequency domain (vertical axis in fig. 7) and the time domain (horizontal axis in fig. 7). The rectangular blocks in fig. 7 illustrate different resource elements. The first resource element 700 is used for data communication. The second resource elements 701 to 703 are used for radar detection 109. As shown in fig. 7, FDD and TDD techniques are employed to ensure that the first resource element 700 and the second resource elements 701 to 703 are orthogonal with respect to each other. During the second resource elements 701 to 703, the data transmission 108 is muted, i.e. switched off or suppressed. By designing the first resource element 700 and the second resource elements 701 to 703 to be orthogonal with respect to each other, interference between the data communication 108 in the first resource element 700 and the radar sounding 109 in the second resource elements 701 to 703 may be mitigated. By muting the data communication 109 in the second resource elements 701 to 703, degradation of the transmission reliability of the data communication 109 can be avoided.

In the example of fig. 7, resource elements 701 to 703 have a rather limited frequency bandwidth. In some examples, radar sounding 109 may be implemented that covers multiple resource elements 701-703 of resource map 755 that are adjacent to each other in the frequency domain. The entire frequency bandwidth of resource map 755 may be dedicated to radar detection 109. Illustrated in fig. 7 is an example in which the second resource elements 701 to 703 are arranged in an intermittent sequence. The repetition period 751 of the sequence of second resource elements 701-703 comprises a duration 752 during which the second resource elements 701-703 are allocated to facilitate radar detection 109; and also includes a duration 753 during which the second resource elements 701 to 703 are absent or muted (in fig. 7, only a single repetition of the sequence of the second resource elements 701 to 703 is depicted in its entirety for simplicity).

In one example, the average repetition period (e.g., repetition period 751) for individual resource elements in the second sequence of resource elements is greater than 0.5 seconds, preferably greater than 0.8 seconds. By such a repetition period, on the one hand a sufficiently large time resolution can be provided for the radar detection 109; while the throughput of the data communication 108 is not unduly reduced. To facilitate efficient radar detection 109, the duration 752 of an individual resource element in the sequence of second resource elements 701 to 703 is typically shorter than 2 microseconds, preferably shorter than 0.8 microseconds, more preferably shorter than 0.1 microseconds. Thus, a significant snapshot of the position/velocity of passive objects around the device 112, 130 may be obtained; meanwhile, the resources are not excessively occupied. Considering a scene with a distance d 50m, the time of flight of the radar probe pulse is equal to 2 d/c 100/(3 10 Λ 8) 0.33 μ s, where c is the speed of light. Scanning is possible by sizing the second resource elements 701 to 703 to include a plurality of radar probes.

In some examples, the duration of resource elements 701-703 used for radar sounding may be different from the duration of resource element 700 used for data transmission. In general, the time-frequency shape of resource elements 701 through 703 may be different from the shape of resource element 700. In general, the techniques described herein are not limited to a particular frequency spectrum or band. For example, the spectrum occupied by resource map 755 may be a licensed band or an unlicensed band. Typically, in unlicensed bands, unlicensed devices may gain access. Sometimes, in licensed bands, a knowledge base (repository) can track all eligible users; differently, in an unlicensed band, a database of such qualified users may not exist. Different operators may access the unlicensed frequency band. For example, the frequency spectrum occupied by resource map 755 may be at least partially above 6GHz, preferably at least partially above 75GHz, and more preferably at least partially above 30 GHz. Generally, as the frequency increases, the aperture of the antenna decreases. Here, due to the well-defined directional transmission characteristics of the electromagnetic waves used for radar detection 609, a high spatial resolution can be achieved when determining the position of a passive object as part of radar detection 609. In general, more antennas of an antenna array may compensate for a smaller aperture. This contributes to a higher angular resolution of the radar detection.

Returning to fig. 1, this figure schematically illustrates an example of radar detection 609. Here, the terminal UE1 acts as a radar transmitter. Thus, the terminal UE1 sends radar sounding pulses, for example, in the second resource elements 701 to 703. The radar probe may include a probe pulse segment and, optionally, a data segment encoding data that may facilitate radar detection 609. For example, the probe pulse segment may comprise a waveform having a spectral contribution arranged within a frequency associated with the respective second resource element 701 to 703. For example, the duration of the probe pulse segment may be in the range of 0.1 μ s to 2 μ s, preferably in the range of 0.8 μ s to 1.2 μ s. The amplitude of the waveform can be modulated; this is sometimes referred to as an envelope. Depending on the implementation, the envelope may have a rectangular shape, a sinusoidal function shape, or any other functional dependence. The duration of the probe pulse segment is sometimes referred to as the pulse width. In view of the travel time, the pulse width may be shorter than the duration of the respective second resource elements 701 to 703 to enable reception of the echo of the radar probe pulse during the duration of the respective second resource elements. The optional data segment may include additional information suitable to facilitate radar detection 609. Such information may include information about the radar transmitter (such as identification; location; cell identification; virtual cell identification; etc.) and/or information about the radar probe pulse itself (such as transmission time; directional transmission profile; etc.). Such information may generally be included explicitly or implicitly. For example, a lookup scheme implemented on the radio channel 601, communicated via the control channel 606, may be employed to enable inclusion of the compression flag in order to implicitly include the corresponding information.

Fig. 2 illustrates a signaling diagram of various embodiments between entities of the radio communication network 100 and using the same reference numerals as in fig. 1. On the left side of the figure, a radio 120 comprising a base station BS1 is shown. Base station 1 communicates with terminals UE1 and UE 2. A passive target object TO from which the transmitted radio signal is reflected or scattered is also indicated.

The embodiment shown in fig. 2 includes the transmission of a radar probe request 230, which is transmitted from the radio 120 to a terminal UE1 acting as a radar transmitter, and to a terminal UE2 configured to act as a radar receiver. The radar probe request 230 may include establishing a radio channel 601 between the BS1 and the respective terminals UE1, UE 2. Here, the attach procedure may be performed for each involved terminal UE1, UE2, respectively. Subsequently, the terminals UE1, UE2 may operate in connected mode. In connected mode, radar probe request 230 may also include transmission of scheduling grants from BS1 to terminals UE1, UE2, respectively, via control channel 606. The scheduling grant may indicate at least one of the resource elements 701 to 703 to be used for radar detection. Thus, radar probe request 230 may be used to preemptively announce radar probing 609, i.e., the transmission of radar probe pulses. Here, the BS1 may act as a central scheduler for resource elements 701 through 703, thereby avoiding interference with data communications. In some examples, the radar probe request 230 may be transmitted in a unicast transmission from the BS1 to the respective terminal UE1, UE2, and optionally in additional unicast transmissions to other affected devices connected to the network. In other examples, radar probe request 230 may include transmission of a broadcast over radio channel 601. In such embodiments, the radar probe request 230 may indicate which terminal is configured to act as the sender UE1 and the receiver UE 2.

Radar probe request 230 may include a geometric identification of the radar probe (including an identification of the location at which the radar probe was made). In various embodiments, the identity of the location may be defined as a location area LOC, which may be identified as one of a geographic location, a radius connected to a particular location, a geofence, or other identity of a location area. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the identification of the location may be defined as a direction Dir1, Dir2, such as a compass probe direction, a probe angle relative to a direction for a LOS direction between the BS1 and the respective UE1, UE2, or other direction identification. Thus, the radar probe request may include an identification of the transmission direction Dir1 in the control signaling for terminal UE1 and/or an identification of the detection direction Dir2 in the control signaling for terminal UE 2.

Thus, the radar detection request 230 may convey resources for radar scanning with an accurate timing reference and angle or direction to be scanned based on the assumed position of the object to be tracked. Particular radar transmission resources (e.g., one or more of 701-703) may be scheduled via layer 1 signaling (e.g., downlink control information signals (DCI)). Alternatively, the radar probe request may include instructions for terminal UE1 to send radar pulses with one or more beams of determined identity.

Based on the radar probe request, the UE1 is triggered 241 to send one or more radar pulses 240. The UE1 may be triggered to transmit 241 in particular a radar pulse 240 in a direction Dir1 obtained from the radar detection request 230, wherein the radar transmission is performed in the direction of the location area LOC to be detected. The terminal UE2 is triggered to detect 242 the reception characteristics of the radio signal echo 243 in the direction Dir2 from the radar probe request 230, wherein in the terminal UE2 radar echo detection is performed in the direction of the location area LOC to be probed. The terminal UE1 performs at least one transmission, e.g., a transmission beam sweep or using a wide beam, in the defined direction and using the scheduled resources. In addition, the UE1 may also be configured to receive and listen for potentially reflected signals, i.e., echoes. Each beam transmission may comprise multiple pulses/bursts in different time and/or frequency resources, such as 701-703. With the transmission of multiple bursts, receiving terminal UE2, as well as other terminals, possibly including UE1, may be configured to enable receive beam scanning for the various transmit beams. The general procedure of sending bursts can reuse the functionality from already standardized synchronization signal bursts as available in 3GPP NR Release 15. This enables the receiving terminal UE2 to identify the strongest transmit beam from the transmitting terminal UE 1. This in turn may result in a low signal-to-noise ratio in the receiving terminal UE2 for detecting the reception characteristics during radar sounding. The receiving terminal UE2 may also obtain radio resource information associated with the resources used by the transmitting terminal UE1, including beam information indicating for how many resources the transmit beam of radio signals will be fixed in the transmission period. The logic of the receiving terminal UE2 may be further configured to control the radio transceiver of the receiving terminal UE2 to sense reception characteristics of one or more reception beams selected according to the beam information of the transmission beam. In particular, the receiving terminal UE2 may determine for how many resources the strongest beam will be fixed and configure its transceiver and antenna array to detect the reception characteristics of the echoes from that beam.

The radio device may be configured to receive 262 data 260 associated with reception characteristics detected at least in terminal UE2 acting as a radar receiver for receiving radar pulses. As mentioned above, the reception characteristics may include metrics associated with one or more of time of arrival, direction of arrival, power level, etc. obtained in the terminal UE 2.

This may be obtained in the radio device 120 by data communication 261 from terminal UE2 to base station BS1 in connected mode using radio resources 700 not used for radar sounding. Alternatively, once the radar sounding sequence is performed, the resources 701 to 703 allocated for radar sounding may again be used for data communication, such as sending a report 261 of the sensed reception characteristics to the base station BS 1.

Thus, the terminal UE2 is configured to listen for reflections, echoes, in defined directions or beams and on scheduled time-frequency resources. As mentioned above, the terminal UE2 may use multiple receive beams as beam scans for each of the transmit bursts. This procedure is available within the 3GPP specifications (e.g. for synchronization signal reception for NR beam management) and can be reused. In 3GPP TS 38.213, different antenna beams are represented as antenna port quasi co-location parameters.

In some implementations, the radar probe request 230 may be associated with power control for radar probing. In some implementations, a power parameter such as a particular power class (power class) or a particular maximum power reduction may be associated with radar detection. Such power parameters may be dedicated to radar detection. In another embodiment, such power parameters may also be used for radio communication, but are otherwise assigned to radar detection. In various embodiments, the network 100 may be configured, by the network node BS1, to specifically control the transmit power used by the terminal UE1 for radar sounding according to a power parameter. As an example, a maximum Tx power limit, such as a Tx power class limit type, may be set. Additionally or alternatively, the power parameter may include a maximum uplink duty cycle to be used for radar sounding that is different from a maximum uplink duty cycle to be used for data communication. In some embodiments, the power parameters applied to radar detection may thus include: a first parameter value (such as a power class or maximum power reduction) that allows a higher output power than data communication; and a second parameter value that allows a smaller maximum uplink duty cycle (such as a lower percentage) than data communication.

The power parameters provided for radar detection may be predefined according to specifications. Alternatively, the network node 100 may convey an indication of the power parameter to the terminal UE1, for example in the radar probe request 230. In various embodiments, the terminal UE1 may specifically indicate the UE capabilities including a power parameter (such as the UE Tx power class) for its radar capabilities. As mentioned above, the power class may be a different power class than the corresponding power class used for communication. By including this information in the UE capabilities, the network 100 will have a priori knowledge about which terminals are suitable for cooperation in passive radar sounding. This may reduce unnecessary use of the air interface for determining suitable terminals for radar detection.

The radio 120 may be configured to obtain location information associated with the radar sender UE1 and the radar receiver UE 2. This may be achieved in different ways in various embodiments. In one embodiment, the terminal location information may be obtained 221 in advance, for example, by receiving location information from the respective terminal UE1, UE2, possibly in response to a positioning request, or as a periodic report. This may also be used as a basis for making a decision in the radio 120: terminals UE1 and UE2 are selected to participate in radar detection as transmitters and receivers based on their respective positions relative to the location area LOC to be detected. In some embodiments, the reception report 260 (including the reception characteristics of the sensed radar pulses) from the terminal UE2 may include or be associated with a location report including the location of the UE2 when sensing the radio signal echo. In some embodiments, a transmission report 250 may be sent from terminal UE1 to radio 120, including a location report containing the location of UE1 at the time the radar pulse was transmitted. The location report from terminal UE1 and/or terminal UE2 may include an indication of the mobility of the terminal during radar sounding, such as velocity, acceleration, direction.

The radio device 120 may be configured to determine the transmission characteristics of the radar echo 243 based on the radar pulse 240 transmitted by the first radio communication terminal UE1 acting as a radar transmitter. In various embodiments, the transmission characteristics may include signal strength, transmit beam information, transmit angle, and associated transmit resource allocation, or other informational properties of the transmitted radar pulse in terms of, for example, duration, radio resources employed, amplitude, and so forth. The measurement report may include new measurements with a similar design as the existing "SS reference signal received quality report" defined in 3GPP TS 38.215. In some implementations, one or more of the transmission characteristics may be predetermined by the radio 120, as conveyed in the radar probe request 230. In some embodiments, one or more of the transmission characteristics may be determined based on receiving 252 a transmission report 250 from a terminal UE 1.

Based on the transmission characteristics, the reception characteristics and the obtained position information, the radio device 120 is configured TO determine 270 a spatial characteristic of the object TO at the target position LOC.

In various embodiments, the originator or initiator of the radar detection interested in obtaining the spatial characteristics of object TO may be terminal UE1 or its user. In such embodiments, the probing query 210 may be sent 211 from the terminal UE1 to the radio that establishes and controls the probing process as outlined. Such an embodiment may also include sending 281 a probe report 280 from the radio 120 for receipt 282 in the terminal 282, which may include the spatial characteristics of the object TO.

In some embodiments, the sounding report 280 may include the detected reception characteristics as reported by the terminal UE 2. In such an embodiment, the terminal radio 120 may be configured TO determine 271 the spatial characteristics of the object TO at the target position LOC based on the transmission characteristics, the reception characteristics and the obtained position information. In this embodiment, the step of obtaining 270 the spatial characteristics in the radio device may be omitted. In such a scenario, the radio 120 is used to configure radio resources in the radio communications network 100 for use in passive radar detection, while the obtained information is only processed in the originating terminal UE 1.

In some embodiments, where the originator of the radar detection is a terminal UE, the terminal UE1 may be configured to receive 263 data 260 associated with a reception characteristic detected at least in the terminal UE2 acting as a radar receiver for receiving radar pulses. This may be obtained by data communication from terminal UE2 to terminal UE1, possibly via base station BS1 or in sidelink communication. In such an embodiment, the step of transmitting the detected reception characteristic for reception 262 to the radio device 120 may be omitted.

In some embodiments, the radio 120 is thus used to configure radio resources in the radio communications network 100 for use in passive radar detection, while the obtained information is only processed in the originating terminal UE 1.

In an alternative embodiment, base station BS1 of radio 120 acts as a transmitting or sounding entity for transmitting radar pulses, while terminal UE2 and one or more additional terminals are enabled to receive as described above.

In one embodiment, terminal UE2 is configured TO calculate a spatial characteristic of object TO based on the sensed reception characteristic, wherein data 260 associated with the reception characteristic comprises such calculated spatial characteristic.

In various embodiments, the network 100 needs to determine the appropriate terminal to act as a receiving terminal. As one method of determining suitable terminals for signal reception, such as UE2, the base station BS1 of the radio 120 may send requests (either as multiple separate transmissions or as a broadcast) to multiple terminals to indicate their ability to potentially perform radar reception in the scheduled resources and towards a location, place, or direction. The request may form part of radar probe request 230 or, alternatively, be sent prior to actually sending radar probe request 230 to selected terminals for participation in radar detection. The terminals can then determine their ability to scan towards the location of interest LOC and determine based on the distance from this location.

The problems addressed in the background section are improved by coordinating the receiving terminal UE2 according to the synchronized time/frequency resource grid of the system and by using location reports from the UE 2.

Fig. 3a schematically illustrates a radio communication terminal UE1, the radio communication terminal UE1 for use in a radio communication network 100 as presented herein and for performing the method steps as outlined, the radio communication terminal UE1 being configured to act as a radar transmitter, and possibly as a radar receiver. This embodiment is consistent with the scenario of fig. 1 and the signaling diagram of fig. 2.

The terminal UE1 may include a radio transceiver 313 for communicating with other entities of the radio communication network 100, such as a base station BS 1. The transceiver 313 may thus comprise a radio receiver and transmitter for communicating over at least one air interface.

The terminating UE1 also includes logic 310 configured to communicate data to the radio communication network 100 and/or directly with another terminating UE2 over a radio channel via a radio transceiver through device-to-device (D2D) communication.

Logic 310 may include a processing device 311 comprising: one or more processors, microprocessors, data processors, co-processors, and/or some other type of component that interprets and/or executes instructions and/or data. The processing device 311 may be implemented as hardware (e.g., a microprocessor, etc.) or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., a system on a chip (SoC), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.). The processing device 311 may be configured to perform one or more operations based on an operating system and/or various applications or programs.

Logic 310 may also include memory storage 312, which may include one or more memories and/or one or more other types of storage media. For example, memory storage 312 may include: random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), cache memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), flash memory, and/or some other type of memory. The memory storage 312 may include: hard disks (e.g., magnetic disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, solid-state disks, etc.).

The memory storage 312 is configured to hold computer program code executable by the processing means 311, wherein the logic 310 is configured to control the terminal UE1 to perform any of the method steps as provided herein. The software defined by the computer program code may include an application or program that provides the functionality and/or processing. The software may include: device firmware, an Operating System (OS), or a variety of applications that may be executed in logic 310.

Terminal UE1 may also include an array 314, which may include an antenna array. Logic 310 may also be configured to control the radio transceiver to employ the anisotropic sensitivity profile of the antenna array to transmit radio signals in a particular transmit direction. The terminal UE1 may also include a positioning unit 315 configured to determine a location of the terminal UE 1. The positioning unit 315 may be a GPS receiver. It will be apparent that the terminal may include other features and elements than those shown in the figures or described herein, such as a power supply, housing, user interface, etc.

Fig. 3b schematically illustrates a radio communication terminal UE2, the radio communication terminal UE2 for use in a radio communication network 100 as presented herein and for performing the method steps as outlined, the radio communication terminal UE2 being configured to act as a radar receiver. This embodiment is consistent with the scenario of fig. 1 and the signaling diagram of fig. 2.

The terminal UE2 may include a radio transceiver 323 for communicating with other entities of the radio communication network 100, such as a base station BS 1. The transceiver 323 may thus include a radio receiver and transmitter for communicating over at least one air interface.

The terminating UE2 also includes logic 320 configured to communicate data to the radio communication network 100 and/or directly with another terminating UE1 over a radio channel via a radio transceiver through device-to-device (D2D) communication.

Logic 320 may include a processing device 321 comprising: one or more processors, microprocessors, data processors, co-processors, and/or some other type of component that interprets and/or executes instructions and/or data. The processing device 321 may be implemented as hardware (e.g., a microprocessor, etc.) or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., a system on a chip (SoC), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.). The processing device 321 may be configured to perform one or more operations based on an operating system and/or various applications or programs.

Logic 320 may also include memory storage 322, which may include one or more memories and/or one or more other types of storage media. For example, memory storage 322 may include: random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), cache memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), flash memory, and/or some other type of memory. The memory storage 322 may include: hard disks (e.g., magnetic disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, solid-state disks, etc.).

The memory storage 322 is configured to hold computer program code executable by the processing device 321, wherein the logic 320 is configured to control the terminal UE2 to perform any of the method steps as provided herein. The software defined by the computer program code may include an application or program that provides the functionality and/or processing. The software may include: device firmware, an Operating System (OS), or a variety of applications that may be executed in logic 320.

Terminal UE2 may also include an antenna 324, which may include an antenna array. Logic 320 may also be configured to control the radio transceiver to employ the anisotropic sensitivity profile of the antenna array to receive radio signals in a particular receive direction. The terminal UE2 may also include a positioning unit 325 configured to determine a location of the terminal UE 2. The positioning unit 325 may be a GPS receiver. It will be apparent that the terminal may include other features and elements than those shown in the figures or described herein, such as a power supply, housing, user interface, etc.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a transceiver arrangement 3241 of a terminal UE2 in one embodiment. It may be noted that a corresponding arrangement may be employed in the transmitting terminal UE 1. The transceiver arrangement 3214 in the illustrated example comprises an antenna array 324 connected to the transceiver 323. Based on the antenna array 324, an anisotropic sensitivity profile may be employed during, for example, the reception of the echo 243 of the radar probe pulse 240. For example, in some examples, the accuracy of the radar detection 609 may be further improved by employing an anisotropic sensitivity profile of the antenna array 324 of the radio transceiver arrangement 3241. Such an anisotropic sensitivity profile of the antenna array 324 may be combined with the isotropic directional transmission profile or the anisotropic directional transmission profile of the corresponding radar probe pulse 240.

In the example of fig. 4, the transceiver arrangement 3241 includes a single antenna array 324. In other examples, the transceiver arrangement 3241 may include multiple antenna arrays 324, which may also be oriented differently to cover different directions relative to the UE 2.

Fig. 4 also schematically illustrates reception characteristics such as received power level 413, angle of arrival 412, and time of flight 411. Further reception characteristics of interest with respect TO radar detection 609 include Doppler shift, which can be used TO determine the velocity of object TO, e.g., the radial velocity from/TO a radar transmitter and/or a radar receiver. The angle of arrival 412 may be determined, for example, in absolute terms, e.g., relative to a magnetic north direction provided by a separate compass (not shown), etc. Angle of arrival 412 may also be determined in relative terms, such as relative to a characteristic direction of antenna array 324. Depending on the definition of the angle of arrival 412 and/or additional reception characteristics, corresponding information may be included in the respective report message 260. Another possible reception characteristic is, for example, a phase shift with respect to an arbitrary reference phase or with respect to a line-of-sight transmission defined reference phase.

In one embodiment, the radio communication terminal UE2 may be configured to act as a radar receiver and include a radio transceiver 323 and logic 320, wherein the logic is configured to transmit data over the radio channel 101 via the radio transceiver. The logic may also be configured such that,

obtaining 233, via the radio transceiver, a radar probe request 230 for detecting a radio signal echo;

determining 235 a reception direction Dir2 based on the request;

controlling the radio transceiver to detect 242 a reception characteristic of the radio signal echo in said direction; and

the data 260 associated with the detected reception characteristic is transmitted 261 via a radio transceiver to the radio communication devices BS1, UE 1.

By configuring 235 the terminating UE2 to determine the receive direction Dir2 based on the request, more efficient radar detection may be obtained because the UE2 may be preset to sense in a particular direction.

In some embodiments, terminal UE2 includes antenna array 324, wherein logic 320 is configured to control a radio transceiver to employ an anisotropic sensitivity profile of the antenna array to detect radio signals according to the receive direction.

In some implementations, the radar detection request 230 indicates a target location LOC to be detected. The target position LOC may be identified according to a geometric definition. In some embodiments, the target position is defined in terms of a direction (e.g., the receive direction). In some embodiments, the target location LOC is defined in terms of location information, wherein the logic is configured to determine the reception direction based on location data of the target location and location data of the terminal UE2 itself. The terminal UE2 may also include one or more sensors, such as a compass, for determining the rotational position of the terminal UE 2. The logic may be further configured to control the radio transceiver to sense reception characteristics of one or more of the receive beams 302 configured according to the location. An anisotropic sensitivity profile may be achieved, for example, by controlling which receive beams are used in terminal UE 2.

The sounding device (i.e. terminal UE1 or base station BS1) and the detecting terminal UE2 are both synchronized with the network 100 and have granted the resources 701 to 703 for radar sounding. In conjunction with the radar probe request 230, the terminal UE2 receives information about the scheduling of transmission beams to be used from the probe device UE1 or BS 1. The radar probe request 230 may thus include radio resource information of the radio signal from which the echo is to be detected.

In some embodiments, the radio resource information comprises beam information indicating for how many resources a transmission beam 301 of the radio signal is to be fixed during a transmission period. That is, for the terminal UE2, a fixed transmit beam 301 will be maintained for how many resources. In one embodiment, the logic is thereby configured to control the radio transceiver to sense reception characteristics of one or more reception beams 302 selected in dependence on said beam information of the transmission beam 301. As an example, if the transmit beam 301 is fixed for T resources, the logic 320 may configure the antenna array 324 with N receive beams in the UE2, where N < > T. By providing the receiver UE2 with information about the transmit beams 301 and associated resources, the UE2 can autonomously decide how many receive beams 302 to use. This is advantageous because the UE2 is the one that is best suited to determine how well beamforming is possible towards the assumed location LOC.

Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a radio device 120 for use in a radio communication network 100 as presented herein and for performing the method steps as outlined for controlling radar sounding using one or more terminals UE2, UE 1. This embodiment is consistent with the scenario of fig. 1 and the signaling diagram of fig. 2. The radio device 120 comprises a base station BS1, such as a nodeb, of the radio communication network 100. The radio 120 may also include a compute node 130, such as an edge compute node configured to perform computational tasks for terminals connected to the network. The base station BS1 may comprise a radio transceiver 513 for communicating with other entities of the radio communication network 100, such as terminals UE1, UE 2. The transceiver 513 may thus comprise a radio receiver and transmitter for communicating over at least one air interface.

The base station BS1 also includes logic 510 configured to communicate data with the terminals UE1, UE2 over the radio channel 101 via the radio transceivers. Logic 510 may include a processing device 511 comprising: one or more processors, microprocessors, data processors, co-processors, and/or some other type of component that interprets and/or executes instructions and/or data. The processing device 511 may be implemented as hardware (e.g., a microprocessor, etc.) or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., a system on a chip (SoC), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.). Processing device 511 may be configured to perform one or more operations based on an operating system and/or various applications or programs.

Logic 510 may also include memory storage 512, which may include one or more memories and/or one or more other types of storage media. For example, memory storage 512 may include: random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), cache memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), flash memory, and/or some other type of memory. The memory storage 512 may include: hard disks (e.g., magnetic disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, solid-state disks, etc.).

The memory storage 512 is configured to hold computer program code executable by the processing device 511, wherein the logic 510 is configured to control the radio device 120 to perform any of the method steps as provided herein. The software defined by the computer program code may include an application or program that provides the functionality and/or processing. The software may include: device firmware, an Operating System (OS), or a variety of applications that may be executed in logic 510.

The radio 120 may also include an antenna 514, which may include an antenna array, connected to the radio transceiver 513. Logic 510 may also be configured to control the radio transceiver to employ the anisotropic sensitivity profile of the antenna array to transmit and/or receive radio signals in a particular transmit direction.

In various embodiments, the radio communication device 120 including the base station BS1 is configured to control passive radar detection in the radio communication network 100 and includes a radio transceiver 513, and logic 510 configured to transmit data via the radio transceiver. In various embodiments, the logic is configured to,

transmitting 231 a radar probe request 230 via a radio transceiver, wherein the radar probe request comprises an identification of locations LOC, Dir1, Dir2 where radar probing is performed, wherein the identification of locations comprises a geographical definition;

determining a transmission characteristic of a radar pulse 240 transmitted by the first radio UE1, 120 acting as a radar transmitter;

receiving 262 data 260 associated with reception characteristics detected in at least one radio communication terminal UE2 acting as a radar receiver for receiving radar pulses via a radio transceiver;

obtaining 221, 252, 262 position information associated with the radar transmitter and the radar receiver;

based on the transmission characteristics, the reception characteristics and the obtained position information, the spatial characteristics of the object TO at said position are determined 270.

By providing the communication terminal UE2 configured to act as a radar receiver with an identification of the location of radar detection, the terminal UE2 is configured to determine 235 the reception direction Dir2 based on the request. In this way, more efficient radar detection may be obtained because the UE2 may be preset to sense in a particular direction.

In one embodiment, the identification of the location includes geographic coordinate data.

In one embodiment, the identification of the location comprises: an identification of the probing angles Dir1, Dir2 associated with the identified radio communication terminals as radar transmitters UE1 and/or radar receivers UE 2.

In one embodiment, the radar probe request includes: an identification of said radio communication terminal UE2 acting as a radar receiver.

In one embodiment, the radar probe request includes: an identity of another radio communication terminal UE1 acting as a radar sender.

In one embodiment, the logic is configured to receive 252 from a transmitter radio communication terminal UE1 and via a radio transceiver data 250 associated with said transmission characteristic.

In one embodiment, the request identifies resource elements (761, 763) of the radio signal to be used for the radar pulse (240).

In various embodiments outlined herein, advantageous effects are obtained by reusing a beam management function for burst transmission and a Tx + Rx beam scanning and beam reporting function for a New Radio (NR) that has been included into the 3GPP specifications. Such beam management functions for burst transmission and beam reporting may be reused, for example, by a network node requesting a UE to transmit radar pulses via a signaling message (e.g., in a radio resource control message or a downlink control signaling message) indicating a so-called Sounding Reference Signaling (SRS) mechanism, as specified in 3GPP for new radio technologies and described, for example, in the 38.802 technology report. According to procedures such as sounding reference signaling mechanisms in new radio technologies, a UE directionally broadcasts an SRS (which may be an allocated resource in a mm-wave band) in a varying direction over time, which may result in continuous scanning in angular space via the varying direction of SRS transmission. For the beam reporting function, in the beam management function in the 3GPP new radio, each potential receiver, such as the gNB or the radio terminal UE2, can also scan its angular direction, monitoring the strength of the received SRS and building a report table based on the channel quality in each reception direction to capture the dynamics of the channel. It will be appreciated that this transmission method has a beneficial effect, as this mechanism may be beneficial for radar pulse transmission to cover angular directional regions. Therefore, the additional function can be included in 3GPP, and the increase in specifications is relatively small. The signaling described in the above steps may be included in RRC signaling (RRC configuration and RRC measurement request/response), while synchronization of physical layer resources and resource allocation may be achieved via Downlink Control Information (DCI).

Claims

1. A radio communication terminal (UE2) configured to act as a radar receiver, the radio communication terminal comprising:

-a radio transceiver (323),

-logic (320) configured to transmit data on a radio channel (101) via the radio transceiver, wherein the logic is further configured to,

obtaining (233) via the radio transceiver a radar probe request (230) for detecting a radio signal echo, wherein the radio signal echo originates at a radio communication device (BS1, UE1) and is reflected by a target object, wherein the target object is to be located by the radar signal echo;

determining (235) a reception direction (Dir2) for the target object based on the request;

controlling the radio transceiver to detect (242) a reception characteristic of the radio signal echo in the direction; and

transmitting (261) data (260) associated with the detected reception characteristic to a radio communication device (BS1, UE1) via the radio transceiver.

2. The radio communication terminal according to claim 1, comprising:

-an antenna array (324),

wherein the logic is configured to control the radio transceiver to employ the anisotropic sensitivity profile of the antenna array to detect radio signals according to the receive direction.

3. The radio communication terminal according to claim 2, wherein the radar detection request (230) indicates a target Location (LOC) to be detected;

wherein the logic is configured to control the radio transceiver to sense reception characteristics of one or more reception beams (302) configured according to the location.

4. The radio communication terminal of claim 2 or 3, wherein the radar probe request (230) comprises radio resource information of the radio signal from which an echo is to be detected.

5. The radio communication terminal according to claim 4, wherein the radio resource information includes beam information indicating for how many resources a transmission beam of the radio signal is to be fixed during a transmission period.

6. The radio communication terminal according to claim 5,

wherein the logic is configured to control the radio transceiver to sense reception characteristics of one or more reception beams (302) selected in accordance with the beam information of the transmission beam.

7. The radio communication terminal of any preceding claim,

wherein the reception characteristic (411 to 413) is selected from the group comprising: relative or absolute angle of arrival; a time of flight; doppler frequency shift; phase shifting; and a received power level.

8. The radio communication terminal according to any preceding claim, comprising:

a positioning unit (325) configured to determine a position of the terminal,

wherein the logic is configured to determine the reception direction based on the determined location of the terminal and a location of interest (LOC) identity obtained in the request.

9. The radio communication terminal of the preceding claim, wherein the logic is configured to employ a first resource element (760) of the radio channel to communicate data with the radio communication device.

10. A radio communication apparatus (BS1, 120), the radio communication apparatus comprising:

-a radio transceiver (513),

-logic (510) configured to transmit data via the radio transceiver, wherein the logic is configured to,

transmitting (231) a radar probe request (230) via the radio transceiver, wherein the radar probe request comprises an identification of a location (LOC, Dir1, Dir2) for radar probing;

determining (231, 252) a transmission characteristic of a radar pulse (240) transmitted by a radio device (UE1, 120) acting as a radar transmitter towards the location;

receiving (262), via the radio transceiver, data (260) associated with reception characteristics of radar signal echoes of the radar pulses reflected from an object (TO), the radar signal echoes being detected in at least one radio communication terminal (UE2) acting as a radar receiver;

obtaining (221, 252, 262) location information associated with the radar transmitter and the radar receiver;

determining (270) a spatial characteristic of the object at the location based on the transmission characteristic, the reception characteristic and the obtained location information.

11. The radio communication apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the identification of the Location (LOC) comprises geographical coordinate data.

12. The radio communication device of claim 10 or 11, wherein the identification of the location comprises: with the radar transmitter? An identification of a detection angle (Dir1, Dir2) associated with the identified radio communication terminal of (UE1) and/or radar receiver (UE 2).

13. The radio communication apparatus according to any one of clauses 10 to 12, wherein the radar detection request includes: an identity of another radio communication terminal (UE1) acting as a radar sender.

14. The radio communication device of any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the logic is configured to receive (252), from the radio communication terminal (UE1) acting as a radar sender and via the radio transceiver, data (250) associated with the transmission characteristic.

15. The radio communication apparatus of any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the request identifies resource elements (761, 763) of a radio signal to be used for the radar pulse (240).